Friday, December 09, 2005

Like the . . . of horses

A couple of more choice quotes from 1 Enoch:

"And as I continued to see in the vision, behold, from that time, one of the four, among those who had come out, was stoning from the sky, and gathering and taking away all the mighty stars, whose sexual organs were like the sexual organs of horses; then he bound all of them hand and foot, and cast them into the pits of th earth" (1 Enoch 88.2; Isaac, OTP, 64). See also 1 Enoch 86.4; 90.21 for the same.

I wish I had Nickelsburgs Hermeneia commentary at hand before I even try to explain this one. I wonder if it is a sign of deformity, the consequence of angelic/human progenty, or else a compliment! Combined with my rabbinic reference to b.Niddah 13b people might start to think that I have a lewd mind.

Otherwise, I'm about to sit down and listen to the complete works of Les Miserable, down half a bottle of Aussie cabernet merlot, and read the latest issue of New Testament Studies.

4 comments:

There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled. Ezekiel 23v20-21

I know of a church which has a bet going for anyone who can successfully preach on this passage and get invited back!

So in Enoch the genitals were like Horses, but in Ezekiel we have donkeys. Well at least the emission was at horse standard!

When lessons get boring and my A level students say the Bible is boring I often turn to this passage. I have a lesson plan on 'The XXX Bible'!!

Simon, my congregation preached through the entire book of Ezekiel, so they certainly preached that passage. I came in when they were on chapter 33, so I missed it, but I know they did it. I've seen the schedule, and they did the whole book.

There is probably some hellenistic influence here as well. the Greeks believed the perfect man could overcome his carnal nature and focus on the mind and philosophy and such. Being well-endowed (and hairy) was a sign that the man was controlled by his sexual urges. This is why much Greek and even later artwork (influence by Hellenism) artwork portrays men very fair skinned and smaller genitalia. The author of Enoch is probably saying that the angels/Nephilim are totally controlled by their carnal appetites. Just my 2 cents.Danny Zacharias

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